Their father, Tom Durkin, who was born in New York City, moved to Ireland when he was 3.

After retiring as a teacher in Galway, Tom Durkin returned to the United States with his wife, Angela, and settled in Dorchester in 1986 when Ciara was 9. Ciara's father died of a heart attack several weeks later.

As a young girl, she attended St. Mark's Elementary School in Dorchester.

She joined the Army National Guard in October 2005 after getting laid off from her informational technology job at Fenway Health.

Although she had talked about joining the Army before, her siblings said she felt losing her job was a sign that she should sign up for military service.

“She wanted to be somewhere where she could help,” Fiona Canavan said about her youngest sister. “She felt it was an important job.”

Ciara was at home with her family for a couple of weeks last month before returning to Afghanistan, where she was to serve until February.

A Red Sox fan, she attended three games while on leave.

“She was compassionate to a fault,” her sister, Maura Durkin, 50, also of Quincy, said.

Ciara's family said she received commendations for her military service and was even credited with helping save the life in April of a contractor who fell 26 feet over a railing after slipping off a ladder in the building in Bagram where she worked.

Her duties with the 726th Task Force Diamond included making sure the finances of soldiers were in order and their families back home were getting their benefits.